Electrical device comprising analog frequency conversion circuitry and method for deriving characteristics thereof

ABSTRACT

An electrical device comprises analog conversion circuitry having an input and an output. The electrical device is essentially provided for converting a first input signal within a first frequency range applied to the input to a first output signal within a second frequency range different from the first frequency range at the output. The electrical device further comprises a signal adding means for adding at least a portion of the first output signal as second input signal to the first input signal. The analog conversion circuitry is also capable of converting the second input signal, which is within the second frequency range, back to the first frequency range. Additionally, a characteristic deriving means is provided for deriving at least one characteristic of the electrical device from the frequency converted second input signal, which appears at the output of the analog conversion circuitry.

PRIORITY

The present patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 toEuropean Patent Application No. EP 03447180.5 filed on Jul. 7, 2003. Thefull disclosure of European Patent Application No. EP 03447180.5 isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present invention relates to an electrical device comprising analogconversion circuitry for converting signals from a first frequency rangeto a second frequency range, in particular an analog transmit and/orreceiver device, such as for example a direct upconversion transmitter.The invention further relates to a method for deriving characteristicsof such a device and precompensating an input signal of such a device.

BACKGROUND

The direct upconversion (or zero-IF, where IF is the acronym forintermediate frequency) transmitter is the transmitter architecturetypically used in wireless transceivers. In such a transmitter, twomixers are driven by baseband (BB) and local oscillator (LO) signals,which are in quadrature. Ideally, combining the two signal paths asBB_(I)·LO_(I)−BB_(Q)·LO_(Q) provides a single output frequencyω_(LO)+ω_(BB). However, there are analog imperfections such as directcurrent (DC) offsets (δ_(BBi,q), δ_(LOi,q)), LO-to-RF (where RF is theacronym for radio frequency) feedthrough (σ_(LOi), σ_(LOq)), andquadrature amplitude (ε_(BB), ε_(LO)) and phase (Δφ_(BB), Δφ_(LO))errors. These imperfections cause an output spectrum containing an imageand a carrier signal. High-end telecom systems, such as a wireless localarea network (WLAN), require suppression of these spurs. In order todetermine the exact origin and contribution of the analog non-idealitiesto this output spectrum, the amplitude and phase of each spur must beknown. In the prior art, this is done by downconverting the RF spectrumback to baseband with a substantially ideal receiver, i.e., an expensivedevice that has a substantially higher conversion accuracy than thetransmitter, which is necessary since otherwise the measurement will beas erroneous as the errors that are to be determined. According, thismethod is not viable for automatic calibration.

Furthermore, up to now only techniques using the amplitude informationare known. This amplitude information is obtained by placing a peakdetector at the RF output [M. Faulkner, T. Mattsson, and W. Yates,“Automatic adjustment of quadrature modulators”, IEE Electronic Letters,vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 214-215, January 1991] or by monitoring the power inan adjacent channel [D. Hilborn, S. Stapleton, and J. Cavers, “Anadaptive direct conversion transmitter”, IEEE Trans. On VehicularTechnology, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 223-233, May 1994]. As no phaseinformation on the spurs is available, a time-consuming recursive“trial-and-error” algorithm is needed in order to determine the optimalbaseband corrections that result in the smallest error.

Thus, there is a need for a direct upconversion transmitter that can becalibrated without needing an expensive ideal receiver and for a methodin which the device characteristics or non-idealities can be determinedand compensated in a simpler way, avoiding a time-consuming recursivealgorithm. Since the non-idealities of a direct upconversion transmitterlargely originate from frequency conversion circuitry used and thefrequency conversion circuitry is also used in other electrical devices,there is a more general need to provide any electrical device thatcomprises frequency conversion circuitry with a means for more simplyand less expensively deriving the device characteristics, and to providea simpler method for compensating the characteristics of such a device.

It is therefore an aim of the invention to provide an electrical device,a method for determining device characteristics, and a method forcompensating the characteristics which fulfill the above mentionedneeds.

SUMMARY

An electrical device comprises analog conversion circuitry having aninput and an output. The electrical device is essentially provided forconverting a first input signal within a first frequency range appliedto the input to a first output signal within a second frequency rangedifferent from the first frequency range at the output. The electricaldevice further comprises a signal adding means for adding at least aportion of the first output signal as second input signal to the firstinput signal. This means that at least a portion of the output of theanalog conversion circuitry, i.e., a portion of the signal within thesecond frequency range, is supplied back to the input of the analogconversion circuitry. The analog conversion circuitry is also capable ofconverting the second input signal, which is within the second frequencyrange, back to the first frequency range. Additionally, a characteristicderiving means is provided for deriving at least one characteristic ofthe electrical device from the frequency converted second input signal,which appears at the output of the analog conversion circuitry.

By supplying a portion of the output signal back to the input of theanalog conversion circuitry, a signal portion is achieved at the outputof the analog conversion circuitry, namely the frequency convertedsecond input signal, which has been converted from the first frequencyrange to the second frequency range and back to the first frequencyrange with the same electrical device. As a result, the signal portionis twice subjected to the same non-idealities. From a comparison withthe initial input signal, i.e., a comparison of the frequency convertedsecond input signal with the first input signal, the double influence ofthese non-idealities on the signal during conversion can be determinedand one or more device characteristics can be derived.

The output signal of the analog conversion circuitry, or at least aportion thereof, is converted back to the initial frequency range byre-using the same electrical device, avoiding the introduction ofnon-idealities from a second conversion device. As a result, the needfor providing an expensive conversion device, which is more ideal ormore accurate than the analog conversion circuitry, is avoided.Furthermore, however ideal or accurate such a second conversion devicemay be, it may still further deteriorate the signal. Thus, by convertingthe output signal back with the same electrical device suchdeterioration is avoided, so that the device characteristics can bedetermined more accurately.

The signal adding means for adding at least a portion of the outputsignal as a second input signal to the first input signal is preferablyformed by an electrical connection from the output towards the input ofthe analog conversion circuitry. This electrical connection may compriseone or more circuit blocks. For example, the one or more circuit blocksmay include one or more filters for eliminating signals outside thesecond frequency range from the output signal and/or a phase shifter forinvoking one of a plurality of predetermined phase shifts to the secondinput signal before being added to the first input signal, or othercircuit blocks.

Analogously, a method for determining device characteristics comprises:(a) supplying the first input signal to the electrical device, (b)adding at least a portion of the output signal as a second input signalto the first input signal, and (c) deriving at least one characteristicof the electrical device from the frequency converted second inputsignal. The method further comprises precompensating the input signal onthe basis of the determined device characteristics. Precompensation ispreferably performed in the digital domain.

These as well as other aspects and advantages will become apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detaileddescription, with reference where appropriate to the accompanyingdrawings. Further, it is understood that this summary is merely anexample and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention asclaimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Presently preferred embodiments are described below in conjunction withthe appended drawing figures, wherein like reference numerals refer tolike elements in the various figures, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a transmit device comprisingfrequency conversion circuitry according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a receiver device comprisingfrequency conversion circuitry according to the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a direct upconversion transmitter architecture;

FIG. 4 shows a standard circuit diagram for an upconversion mixer;

FIG. 5 shows the typical output spectrum of a direct upconversion mixer;

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a direct upconversion transmitterarchitecture according to the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a possible circuit implementation of an upconversion mixeraccording to the invention;

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram for baseband calibration of the device ofFIG. 6;

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram for time-domain baseband precompensation ofthe device of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 shows a possible circuit implementation for baseband calibrationof the upconversion mixer of FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 shows a possible circuit implementation for feedback DC offsetcalibration of the upconversion mixer of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 12 shows a possible circuit implementation for AC-coupling thefeedback inputs of the upconversion mixer of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is generally applicable to any electrical device havinganalog conversion circuitry which is essentially provided for performinga frequency conversion on a first input signal within a first frequencyrange to obtain an output signal within a second frequency rangedifferent from the first frequency range. Two such electrical devicesare shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The device of FIG. 1 is an analog transmit device 100, which has analogconversion circuitry 102 for converting a baseband input signal to an RFoutput signal. The additional components of the device of FIG. 1 withrespect to a known analog transmit device 100 are shown in dotted lines.The baseband input signal is supplied to the analog conversion circuitry102 from a baseband section 104. The output signal of the analogconversion circuitry 102 is supplied to an RF section for transmittal.

The analog conversion circuitry 102 may comprise one or more conversionsteps, each formed by a local oscillator (LO) 106 and a mixer 108. Atleast a portion of the output signal of the analog conversion circuitry102 is added onto the baseband input signal by means of signal addingmeans, which is formed by an electrical connection feedback (FB) in FIG.1, but other means may also be provided for this purpose. This has theeffect that an RF second input signal is supplied to the input of theanalog conversion circuitry, which is downconverted to a basebandportion in the output signal. This baseband portion is the result of anupconversion and a downconversion by the same analog conversioncircuitry 102, so by measuring the baseband portion and comparing itwith the baseband input signal, characteristics of the analog conversioncircuitry 102 can be determined.

The baseband portion is conveniently extracted from the output signal bymeans of a low pass filter (LPF) 110 or alternative means and suppliedto a characterization block 112, which is provided for deriving thedesired device characteristics and supplying signal correction data tothe baseband section 104. The output signal, which is supplied to the RFsection is also filtered, namely by means of a high pass filter (HPF)114 for eliminating signals outside the RF frequency range, so thatunwanted components are removed before transmittal.

In the transmit device 100 of FIG. 1, the electrical connection FB alsocomprises a filters for eliminating signals outside the RF frequencyrange from the output signal, which is conveniently formed by the filterHPF 114 of the RF section. The connection FB may further comprise aphase shifter (not shown) for invoking one of a plurality ofpredetermined phase shifts to the second input signal. The phase shiftermay conveniently be a resistor-capacitor/capacitor-resistor (RC/CR)block, as will appear from the following. Of course the connection FBmay comprise further components, but it is preferred to keep theirnumber as low as possible, since each component may introduce furthernon-idealities.

The device of FIG. 2 is an analog receiver device 200, which also hasanalog conversion circuitry 202, but for converting an received RFsignal to a baseband signal. The analog conversion circuitry 202 maycomprise one or more conversion steps, each formed by a local oscillator(LO) 206 and a mixer 208. The additional components of the device ofFIG. 2 with respect to a known analog receiver device 200 are shown indotted lines.

An RF section, which during normal operation receives RF signals, isconnected on the input of the analog conversion circuitry 202. Abaseband section 204, which is connected to the output of the analogconversion circuitry 202, is also provided for supplying a basebandinput signal to the input of the analog conversion circuitry 202 forcalibration purposes. This is shown in FIG. 2 by means of the arrowconnecting the baseband section 204 to the input (the RF side) of theanalog conversion circuitry 202.

At least a portion of the output signal of the analog conversioncircuitry 202 is added onto the baseband input signal by means of signaladding means, which are formed by an electrical connection FB in FIG. 2,but other means may also be provided for this purpose. Again, this hasthe effect that an RF second input signal is supplied to the input ofthe analog conversion circuitry 202 and added to the first basebandinput signal. The second input signal is downconverted back to abaseband output signal, which is the result of an upconversion and adownconversion by the same analog conversion circuitry 202. So byextracting and measuring the baseband output signal and comparing itwith the baseband input signal supplied from the baseband section 204,characteristics of the analog conversion circuitry 202 can bedetermined.

In the analog receiver device 200 of FIG. 2, the baseband output signalis extracted from the output signal by means of a low pass filter (LPF)210 or alternative means, which eliminates the RF components from theoutput of the analog conversion circuitry 202. The baseband outputsignal is then supplied to a characterization block 212, which isprovided for deriving the desired device characteristics and supplyingsignal correction data to the baseband section 204.

In the analog receiver device 200 of FIG. 2, the baseband section 204 isalso connected to the output of the analog conversion circuitry 202 viathe low pass filter (LPF) 210, which is thus conveniently used duringcalibration as well as during normal operation of the analog receiverdevice 200. During calibration, a switch can, for example, disconnectthe baseband section 204.

The electrical connection FB may further comprise a phase shifter (notshown) for invoking one of a plurality of predetermined phase shifts tothe second input signal. The phase shifter may conveniently be an RC/CRblock. Of course the connection FB may comprise further components, butit is preferred to keep their number as low as possible, since eachcomponent may introduce further non-idealities.

In the following, the invention is applied to the example of a directupconversion (or zero-IF) analog transmitter, which is used in manymodern integrated transceiver systems. It is understood that theinvention can more generally be applied in any electrical device whichhas analog frequency conversion circuitry.

In the following, the signal adding means, i.e., the connection line oralternative means that adds the portion of the output signal of theanalog conversion circuitry to the input signal, is referred to asfeedback circuitry. This terminology is relevant, since the output is(partly) “fed back” to the input, but it should be noted that suchterminology is generally used to refer to circuitry which actuallymeasure the output and apply a correction to the source, much like thecharacterization blocks 112, 212 in FIGS. 1 and 2.

A known direct upconversion transmitter 300 is shown in FIG. 3. Astandard circuit diagram for the mixer block 400 is shown in FIG. 4. Atypical output spectrum 500 of a direct upconversion mixer is shown inFIG. 5. The two mixers are driven by baseband (BB) and local oscillator(LO) signals that are in quadrature. If all circuits are perfectlymatched, the RF output signal is given by

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{RF} = {{{LO}_{I} \cdot {BB}_{I}} - {{LQ}_{Q} \cdot {BB}_{Q}}}} \\{= {{{\cos\left( {\omega_{LO} \cdot t} \right)} \cdot {\cos\left( {\omega_{BB} \cdot t} \right)}} - {{\sin\left( {\omega_{LO} \cdot t} \right)} \cdot {\sin\left( {\omega_{BB} \cdot t} \right)}}}} \\{= {\cos\left( {\left( {\omega_{LO} + \omega_{BB}} \right) \cdot t} \right)}}\end{matrix} & (1)\end{matrix}$The two signals add constructively for the wanted sideband anddestructively for the unwanted sideband, which results in the desiredsingle sine wave at frequency ω_(LO)+ω_(BB).

Although this architecture is generally suited for this purpose, thearchitecture has the drawback over heterodyne upconverters of generatingsome in-band spurs that cannot be eliminated by appropriate RFfiltering. The most important spurs are located on the image frequency(due to imperfect image rejection) and on the carrier frequency (due toDC offsets and LO-to-RF feedthrough). The two quadrature paths (I and Q)are not perfectly matched, and real implementations of this circuit willhave mismatches in amplitude (ε) and phase (Δφ) and DC offsets (δ). Thecomplex baseband signal of amplitude A_(BB), frequency ω_(BB) and phaseθ_(BB) can be described with the following equations:V _(BBi) =A _(BB)·(1+ε_(BB))·cos(ω_(BB) ·t+θ _(BB)+Δφ_(BB))+δ_(BBi)V _(BBq) =A _(BB)·(1−ε_(BB))·sin(•_(BB) ·t+θ _(BB)−Δφ_(BB))+δ_(BBq)  (2)The baseband signal is upconverted to RF by the quadrature LO signalsV _(LOi) =A _(LO)·(1+ε_(LO))·cos(ε_(LO) ·t+θ _(LO)+Δφ_(LO))+δ_(LOi)V _(LOq) =A _(LO)·(1−ε_(LO))·sin(ε_(LO) ·t+θ _(LO)−Δφ_(LO))+δ_(LOq)  (3)Errors in amplitude and phase result in the generation of an imagecomponent at frequency ω_(LO)−ω_(BB) with a magnitude in dBc given by:

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{P_{image} = {20 \cdot {\log\left( {\tan({\Delta\phi})} \right)}}} \\{= {20 \cdot {\log(ɛ)}}}\end{matrix} & (4)\end{matrix}$So an amplitude error of 2% generates in image component of −34 dBc, andthe image rejection with a phase error of 3° is 25 dB. So in order to beable to comply with the transmitter requirements of high-data ratecommunication systems, such as an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) WLAN, a calibration scheme is required. DC offsetsin the baseband signal generate a carrier component that must also belimited to comply with the spectral mask specifications. Again, a DCoffset of 2% results in a carrier component of −34 dBc. But moreimportantly this carrier feedthrough is also created by direct LO-to-RFfeedthrough in the mixers, as indicated with the contributions σ_(LOi)and σ_(LOq) depicted in FIG. 3.

In applying the invention to the direct upconversion transmitarchitecture, as proposed in FIG. 6, the basic idea is to downconvertthe RF signal back to baseband, but doing this by re-using the transmitmixers for the downconversion function. Again, errors may be made inthis downconversion, but this time the errors in the up- anddownconversion are correlated, so the required measurements andequations to calculate them can be derived. For example, the quadratureerror in the downconversion will be the same as in the upconversion, sothe actual error will be half of the quadrature error which is measuredon the downconverted signal.

Thorough investigation of this idea shows that, although at first sightvery simple, retrieving transmit (TX) errors requires some moreoperations than this. The main reason is that there are a lot of unknownand uncertain phase shifts in the RF path, which complicate themathematical formulas. The circuit topology 700 that allows tosuccessfully recover all errors is shown in FIG. 7. By comparison withthe standard circuit topology 400 of FIG. 4, the additional componentsare immediately clear. The standard upconversion operation passes theLO×BB signal through a high-pass filter to the RF port. In the circuit700 of FIG. 7, a fraction α of the RF signals is tapped and fed back tothe BB input ports of the TX mixers. This will create an RF×LO=BBcomponent in the output spectrum, which passes through a low-pass filterand is measured at the LF ports. This signal can be amplified andconverted to the digital domain (e.g., by a receive video graphics array(VGA) and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) already present in thesystem), where the necessary calculations required for determining thequadrature errors can be performed.

An RC phase shifter generating the FB signal with either 0 or 90 degreesdelay is inserted for obtaining two output signals which make itpossible to perform all the mathematical operations for retrieving twoLO quadrature errors ε_(LO) and Δφ_(LO). All the added blocks are alsonot perfectly matched and they have quadrature errors associated withthem as indicated in the FIG. 6. A possible circuit implementation of amixer including the low- and high-pass filtering in the output path andthe extra feedback inputs in parallel with the baseband inputs is shownin FIG. 7.

Of course, all the extra circuitry is not free from nonidealities, andwill introduce errors in the calibration measurements which areperformed. These errors are also indicated in FIG. 6. They include:

-   quadrature errors (ε_(FB) and Δφ_(FB)) and DC offsets (δ_(FBi) and    δ_(FBq)) in the feedback signals FB_(I) and FB_(Q)-   quadrature errors (ε_(LF) and Δφ_(LF)) and DC offsets (δ_(LFi) and    δ_(LFq)) in the low-frequency signals LF_(I) and LF_(Q)-   amplitude and phase errors (ε_(RC) and Δφ_(RC)) in the 90-degree    rotation in the feedback path.

In the following calibration procedure, sufficient measurements andmathematics are employed to cancel out the effect of these extraimperfections, and acquire a good estimation for the errors in thebaseband and local oscillator signals.

Below it is described how the feedback circuitry can be used toautomatically calibrate the transmit spectrum, at regular times beforeactually transmitting data. Several measurements are performed, makingregular use of switches or multiplexers that guide low-frequency signalsfrom one part of the circuit to another. Care must be taken to designthese multiplexers such that they do not influence the measurement.Preferably, multiplexing is done in the current domain and simplecomplementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) pass transistors can beused to switch the signal from one node to another. The calculationspresented make use of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) function, a blockthat comes for free in an OFDM modem since the receiver is not runningat this moment. For other applications where such an FFT is not readilyavailable, other mathematic derivations can be analogously developed.

The complete calibration sequence is performed in 6 steps, as set outbelow.

Step 1: Calibrate the BB Signal

In this step a sine wave BB signal is applied to the mixer, but thecircuit is put in a configuration where it does not perform anupconversion. Instead the baseband signal is transferred directly to theoutput, where it takes the path through the low-pass filter and isdetected at the low frequency (LF) outputs. A block diagram 800 for thisis shown in FIG. 8 and a possible circuit implementation 1000 for thisis shown in FIG. 10. The LO signal can be running, but the DC level ofthe LO mixer transistors is set to ground to completely eliminate themixing operation. This way the BB current signal is directed towards theLF outputs. An alternative would be to apply no LO signal, and shiftonly the DC level of the inner mixer transistors (driven by the signalLOn) to zero, while the outer transistors stay active and conduct the BBcurrent without any mixing operation to the output.

In order to cancel the quadrature error of the LF path (ε_(LF) andΔφ_(LF)) (both in the filter circuitry shown and in the followingamplifiers and analog-to-digital converters), two measurements are takenwith I and Q signals swapped:

-   BB_(I) signal to LF1 _(I) signal and BB_(Q) current to LF1 _(Q)    signal-   BB_(I) signal to LF2 _(Q) signal and BB_(Q) current to LF2 _(I)    signal.    And in order to cancel the DC offsets in the LF path (δ_(FBi) and    δ_(FBq)) a third measurement is taken with the sign of the BB    signals swapped:-   −BB_(I) signal to LF3 _(I) signal and −BB_(Q) current to LF3 _(Q)    signal.    Since all these switches (only one pair Ca1BB is shown in FIGS. 8    and 10) are done in the current domain, the influence of imperfect    matching in the switches should be negligible.

To determine the BB quadrature errors, the first two measurements can becombined:LF _(I) =LF1_(I) +LF2_(Q)LF _(Q) =LF1_(Q) +LF2_(I)  (5)and the FFT of the complex signal LF_(I)+j.LF_(Q) is taken that willcontain three spectral components:

-   one at frequency +ω_(BB) with a complex amplitude A+j.B-   one at frequency −ω_(BB) with a complex amplitude C+j.D-   one at DC with a complex amplitude E+j.F.    The DC component does not contain any useful information since the    DC offsets off the LF path are still included. From the other    numbers the quadrature errors of the BB signal can be calculated    with these equations:

$\begin{matrix}{{ɛ_{BB} = \frac{{C \cdot A} - {D \cdot B}}{A^{2} + B^{2}}}{{\Delta\phi}_{BB} = {- \frac{{C \cdot B} + {D \cdot A}}{A^{2} + B^{2}}}}} & (6)\end{matrix}$It is also possible to apply a multi-tone BB signal and in this waydetermine the frequency-dependent BB quadrature errors. These will berather important because mismatch in the anti-alias filter after thedigital-to-analog converter will shift the position of the filter poles,and so generate a different amplitude and phase response in the I and Qpath.

In the extreme case for the WLAN OFDM system, a BB signal with 26carriers at all positive frequencies n×312.5 kHz can be applied, and foreach component the resulting signal at the negative frequency (given bythe FFT component C+j.D) gives the quadrature error information. Caremust be taken however that harmonic distortion components from carrier xdo not disturb the measurements at carriers 2x, 3x, etc. Therefore, itis preferred that only a limited number of BB carriers are applied,whose frequencies are chosen such that the harmonic distortioncomponents do not fall on top of other fundamental frequencies. Thequadrature errors of the other (non-used) carriers can easily beretrieved from interpolation between the known points. Also the phasesof the applied carriers may be chosen so that the generation of signalswith high crest factors is avoided.

Next the baseband DC offsets are determined by combining the first andthe third measurements:LF _(I) =LF1_(I) −LF3_(I)LF _(Q) =LF1_(Q) −LF3_(Q)  (7)and taking the average (DC) value of them gives

-   average of LF_(I)=G-   average of LF_(Q)=H    from which the baseband DC offsets can be calculated:

$\begin{matrix}{{\delta_{BBi} = \frac{G}{\sqrt{A^{2} + B^{2}}}}{\delta_{BBq} = {- \frac{H}{\sqrt{A^{2} + B^{2}}}}}} & (8)\end{matrix}$As there normally is a programmable gain implemented in the transmitbaseband circuitry to provide a certain amount of RF power control, itis possible that DC offset and/or quadrature errors might be dependenton the TX baseband gain. In that case, step 1 might have to be repeatedfor the different possible gain settings, or a subset thereof.Step 2: FB DC Offset Calibration

Next the DC offset in the feedback path is measured. This is donebecause later we will activate them to feedback the RF signal to the LFports, and the DC signal present at the LF ports will be used as anestimation of the carrier spectrum of the RF output. If however thisfeedback path inserts also DC offset, a false carrier component will begenerated and the actual LO feedthrough will be incorrectly compensatedfor.

For this, the feedback circuitry is activated, but no RF signal isapplied to it. The digital TX block, taking into account the previouslyestimated DC offset, must generate a zero baseband signal. As for thebaseband calibration, the LO transistors of the mixer are biased atground level and are short-circuited by a switch leading the FB signaldirectly towards the LF ports. A possible circuit 1100 is shown in FIG.11.

In order to cancel the DC offsets in the LF path (δ_(FBi) and δ_(FBq)),two measurements are taken with the sign of the FB signals swapped:

-   FB_(I) signal to LF1 _(I) signal and FB_(Q) current to LF1 _(Q)    signal-   −FB_(I) signal to LF1 _(I) signal and −FB_(Q) current to LF2 _(Q)    signal    and taking the average (DC) value of the difference between these    two measurements gives-   average of LF1 _(I)−LF2 _(I)=G-   average of LF1 _(Q)−LF2 _(Q)=H    from which the feedback DC offsets can be calculated:

$\begin{matrix}{{\delta_{FBi} = \frac{G}{\sqrt{A^{2} + B^{2}}}}{\delta_{FBq} = {- \frac{H}{\sqrt{A^{2} + B^{2}}}}}} & (9)\end{matrix}$

Alternatively (and even preferably) a feedback circuit can be built thatdoes not generate any DC offset, for example, by simple AC coupling (orhigh-pass filtering) the feedback connection to the mixer input. Anexample circuit 1200 for a Gilbert-cell upconversion mixer is shown inFIG. 12. In this case it is not needed to calibrate out the feedback DCoffset, saving the two measurements in step 2. And even more, the thirdmeasurement of step 1 can be omitted because in the next step theLO-to-RF feedthrough is estimated. If there is a baseband DC offset, itwill be combined with the LO-to-RF feedthrough and be compensated for inthe same way. Of course, the baseband DC offset can be dependent on thebaseband gain setting, so one must be careful in choosing the set ofmeasurements to do.

Step 3: Calibrate Local Oscillator DC Offset

Because DC offsets in the LO signal pass a fraction of the basebandsignal directly to the mixer output, an error may be introduced in themeasurements in steps 4 and 5. This error is measured now in order tocancel its contribution later.

For this, a single BB tone is applied, preferably one having a lowfrequency. It should have no quadrature errors or DC offsets, so theresults of step 1 should already be applied now. It should also begenerated with zero phase, i.e., the delay through the BB path, the LFmeasurement, and the FFT calculation should be compensated for. This caneasily be done by calculating the phase of the BB signal in step 1(θ_(BB)=arctan(B/A)) and applying this value.

For the baseband DC offset, as explained before, one is free tocompensate the offset at this point or do a combined estimation in thisstep of BB DC offsets (δ_(BBi,q)) and LO-to-RF feedthrough (σ_(LOi,q))in steps 4, 5 and 6.

The mixer now operates normally and shifts this baseband signal towardsRF frequencies, but also generates some low-frequency signals. Twomeasurements are performed to cancel out quadrature errors in the LFpath:

-   output of mixer I to LF1 _(I) signal and output of mixer Q to LF1    _(Q) signal-   output of mixer I to LF2 _(Q) signal and output of mixer Q to LF2    _(I) signal.    These waveforms contain information on the DC offsets in the LF path    and the LO path. One could calculate these numbers based on the FFT    results. A more efficient method captures these waveforms over a    time interval of one period and stores the waveforms for later use.    Step 4: First RF Measurement

The same BB signal as in step 3 is applied. The mixer now operatesnormally and shifts this baseband signal towards RF frequencies. But nowthe feedback path FB is also activated with the 0-degree delay setting,which causes the circuit to generate a low-frequency component that willbe measured at the LF outputs. The delay setting at 0° is just arelative number, there are other phase shifts in the RF section whichare unknown now but which will be canceled out by the final mathematicformulas.

Again two measurements are done to cancel out the quadrature errors ofthe LF path:

-   output of mixer I to LF1 _(I) signal and output of mixer Q to LF1    _(Q) signal-   output of mixer I to LF2 _(Q) signal and output of mixer Q to LF2    _(I) signal.    The waveforms obtained in step 3 are subtracted from those obtained    here in step 4. This effectively eliminates the errors due to DC    offsets in the LF and the LO signals.

To estimate the LO quadrature errors and LO-to-RF feedthroughcomponents, the FFT of the complex signal (LF1 _(I)+LF2 _(Q))+j.(LF1_(Q)+LF2 _(I)) is taken, which contains three spectral components:

-   one at frequency+ω_(BB) with a complex amplitude A1+j.B1-   one at frequency −ω_(BB) with a complex amplitude C1+j.D1-   one at DC with a complex amplitude E1+j.F1.    It turns out that there are still too many unknowns in the system    and not enough equations to solve them. Therefore a second RF    measurement is needed.    Step 5: Second RF Measurement

This step is a copy of step 4, but now the feedback delay is set to 90degrees. This phase shifter does not have to be a very good one, becauseif the phase difference is not exactly 90° or if the amplitude does notremain equal, this can be detected in the LF signal and the finalmathematics used in step 6 to estimate the errors will take this intoaccount. So, a single RC/CR phase shifter is sufficient for thispurpose.

Again, two measurements (to cancel LF quadrature errors), subtraction ofthe waveforms of step 3 (to cancel LF and LO DC offsets), and the FFT ofthe average of the two obtained signals will result in three spectralcomponents:

-   one at frequency +ω_(BB) with a complex amplitude A2+j.B2-   one at frequency −ω_(BB) with a complex amplitude C2+j.D2-   one at DC with a complex amplitude E2+j.F2.    Step 6: Mathematical Calculations

The following formulas are able to give a good approximation of the LOquadrature errors:

$\begin{matrix}{{ɛ_{LO} = \frac{\left( {{D\;{2 \cdot B}\; 1} - {D\;{1 \cdot B}\; 2}} \right) + \left( {{C\;{2 \cdot A}\; 1} - {C\;{1 \cdot A}\; 2}} \right)}{2 \cdot \left( {{A\;{2 \cdot B}\; 1} - {A\;{1 \cdot B}\; 2}} \right)}}{{\Delta\phi}_{LO} = \frac{\left( {{C\;{2 \cdot B}\; 1} - {C\;{1 \cdot B}\; 2}} \right) + \left( {{D\;{2 \cdot A}\; 1} - {D\;{1 \cdot A}\; 2}} \right)}{2 \cdot \left( {{A\;{2 \cdot B}\; 1} - {A\;{1 \cdot B}\; 2}} \right)}}} & (10)\end{matrix}$The carrier feedthrough amplitude and phase are given by the equations:

$\begin{matrix}{{\sigma_{LOi} = \frac{{E\;{2 \cdot B}\; 1} - {E\;{1 \cdot B}\; 2}}{{A\;{2 \cdot B}\; 1} - {A\;{1 \cdot B}\; 2}}}{\sigma_{LOq} = \frac{{F\;{2 \cdot B}\; 1} - {F\;{1 \cdot B}\; 2}}{{A\;{2 \cdot B}\; 1} - {A\;{1 \cdot B}\; 2}}}} & (11)\end{matrix}$A compensated RF output spectrum is obtained by digitallyprecompensating the baseband signal with the estimations as follows:BB _(corr,i)=(1−ε_(BB)−ε_(LO))·COS(ω_(BB) ·t−Δφ_(BB)−Δφ_(LO))−(δ_(BBi)+σ_(LOi))BB _(corr,q)=(1+ε_(BB)+ε_(LO))·sin(ω_(BB) ·t+Δφ_(BB)+Δφ_(LO))−(δ_(BBq)+σ_(LOq))  (12)As these formulas include a phase shift, this correction is preferablydone in the frequency domain, e.g., prior to the Inverse Fast FourierTransform (IFFT) of the OFDM modulation.

A correction in the time domain is also possible, provided that thebaseband quadrature errors are not (or minimally) frequency-dependent.The following equations apply:BB _(corr,i)=(1−ε_(BB)−ε_(LO))·BB _(I)+(Δφ_(BB)+Δφ_(LO))·BB_(Q)−(δ_(BBi)+σ_(LOi))BB _(corr,q)=(1+ε_(BB)+ε_(LO))·BB _(Q)+(Δφ_(BB)+Δφ_(LO))·BB_(I)−(δ_(BBq)+σ_(LOq))  (13)and a block diagram 900 for this implementation is shown in FIG. 9.

These formulas are linear approximations with respect to all othererrors in the circuit. However, these formulas are:

-   second-order dependent on ε_(BB) and Δφ_(BB),-   third-order dependent on ε_(LF) and Δφ_(LF),-   second-order dependent on ε_(FB) and Δφ_(FB), and-   third-order dependent on ε_(RC) and Δφ_(RC),    which makes them an improvement of around 20 dB in image rejection.

Note that, although perfectly valid with ideal mixer circuits,simulations with real-life implementations show a small systematicdeviation from these results. For example, the BB phase θ_(BB) seems tobe not perfectly the same as the compensation needed in the measurementson step 2 and 3. However, this is something that can be easily detectedduring simulations and the algorithm can be adjusted for it.

This technique might be expanded further to compensate other transmitnon-idealities, the most important of which are non-linearities. If theRF feedback signal is taken not directly at the mixer output, but at thepower amplifier (PA) output just before the antenna, sufficientinformation should be present to detect and correct the nonlinearbehavior of the PA.

In conclusion, the invention provides a method for measuring andcorrecting the RF output spectrum of a direct upconversion mixer.Amplitude and phase information of all the spectral components of theoutput signal is obtained by downconverting the RF signal back tobaseband. However, unknown errors in the downconversion operation areavoided by re-using the transmit mixer as a downconverter. An automaticcalibration procedure is presented that explains all the measurementsand calculations to be performed in order to obtain an accurate estimateof both the image rejection and the carrier feedthrough. This procedurecould even be extended to include other analog non-idealities, such asintermodulation distortion.

This automatic calibration procedure can be generally described as amethod for calibrating a direct upconversion transmitter, whichcomprises one or more of the following calibration steps:

-   applying a sine wave baseband signal to both the I and Q branch as    input signal and transferring it directly without upconversion to    the output of the analog conversion circuitry and conducting a first    measurement with the characteristic deriving means; swapping the    input signals of the I and Q branch and conducting a second    measurement with the characteristic deriving means; and deriving    quadrature errors of the baseband signal from the first and second    measurements;-   applying a zero baseband signal to both the I and Q branch, short    circuiting the analog conversion circuitry and conducting a third    measurement with the characteristic deriving means; swapping the    sign of the second input signal and conducting a fourth measurement    with the characteristic deriving means; and deriving a DC offset of    the signal adding means from the third and fourth measurements;-   applying a single baseband tone to both the I and Q branch while the    analog conversion circuitry is operational and the signal adding    means are not operational and conducting a fifth measurement with    the characteristic deriving means; swapping the output signals of    the I and Q branches and conducting a sixth measurement with the    characteristic deriving means; and deriving a DC offset of the    analog conversion circuitry from the fifth and sixth measurements;-   applying a single baseband tone to both the I and Q branch while the    analog conversion circuitry and the signal adding means are    operational with a first phase shift on the second input signal, and    conducting a seventh measurement with the characteristic deriving    means; swapping the output signals of the I and Q branches and    conducting an eighth measurement with the characteristic deriving    means; applying a second phase shift to the second input signal and    conducting a ninth measurement with the characteristic deriving    means; swapping the output signals of the I and Q branches and    conducting a tenth measurement with the characteristic deriving    means; and deriving conversion circuitry quadrature errors and/or    carrier feedthrough amplitude and/or carrier feedthrough phase from    the seventh to tenth measurements.

It should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are exemplaryonly and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the presentinvention. The claims should not be read as limited to the describedorder or element unless stated to that effect. Therefore, allembodiments that come within the scope and spirit of the followingclaims and equivalents thereto are claimed as the invention.

1. An electrical device comprising in combination: analog conversioncircuitry having an input and an output, the analog conversion circuitryis provided for converting a first input signal within a first frequencyrange applied to the input to an output signal within a second frequencyrange different from the first frequency range at the output; a signaladding means for adding at least a portion of the output signal as asecond input signal to the first input signal, wherein the analogconversion circuitry is capable of converting the second input signalback to the first frequency range; a characteristic deriving meansprovided for deriving at least one characteristic of the electricaldevice from the frequency converted second input signal; and an analogtransmit device having a first circuit electrically connected to theinput of the analog conversion circuitry and a second circuitelectrically connected to the output of the analog conversion circuitry,the first circuit being provided for supplying the first input signaland the second circuit being provided for transmitting the outputsignal, wherein the characteristic deriving means is formed bycharacterization block connected to the output of the analog conversioncircuitry, the characterization block is provided for supplying signalcorrection data to the first circuit.
 2. The electrical device of claim1, wherein the signal adding means is formed by an electrical connectionfrom the output towards the input of the analog conversion circuitry. 3.The electrical device of claim 2, wherein the electrical connectioncomprises at least one filter for eliminating signals outside the secondfrequency range from the output signal.
 4. The electrical device ofclaim 2, wherein the electrical connection comprises a phase shifter forinvoking one of a plurality of predetermined phase shifts to the secondinput signal before being added to the first input signal.
 5. Theelectrical device of claim 4, wherein the phase shifter is aresistor-capacitor/capacitor-resistor (RC/CR) block.
 6. The electricaldevice of claim 1, wherein the characteristic deriving means comprisesan extraction circuit electrically connected to the output of the analogconversion circuitry and is provided for extracting a first frequencyrange portion from the output signal.
 7. The electrical device of theclaim 1, wherein the first frequency range is below the second frequencyrange.
 8. The electrical device of claim 1, wherein the first circuit isformed by a baseband circuit and the second circuit is formed by a radiofrequent transmitting circuit, the analog conversion circuitrycomprising at least one upconversion step with a local oscillator and amixer.
 9. An electrical device comprising in combination: analogconversion circuitry having an input and an output, the analogconversion circuitry is provided for converting a first input signalwithin a first frequency range applied to the input to an output signalwithin a second frequency range different from the first frequency rangeat the output; a signal adding means for adding at least a portion ofthe output signal as a second input signal to the first input signal,wherein the analog conversion circuitry is capable of converting thesecond input signal back to the first frequency range; a characteristicderiving means provided for deriving at least one characteristic of theelectrical device from the frequency converted second input signal; andan analog transmit device having a first circuit electrically connectedto the input of the analog conversion circuitry and a second circuitelectrically connected to the output of the analog conversion circuitry,the first circuit being provided for supplying the first input signaland the second circuit being provided for transmitting the outputsignal, wherein the first and second circuits and the analog conversioncircuitry comprise a first branch for dealing with signals having afirst phase and a second branch for dealing with signals having a secondphase different from the first phase.
 10. The electrical device of claim9, wherein the electrical device is provided for I/Q modulation, thefirst branch defining the I branch and the second branch defining the Qbranch.
 11. An electrical device comprising in combination: analogconversion circuitry having an input and an output, the analogconversion circuitry is provided for converting a first input signalwithin a first frequency range applied to the input to an output signalwithin a second frequency range different from the first frequency rangeat the output; a signal adding means for adding at least a portion ofthe output signal as a second input signal to the first input signal,wherein the analog conversion circuitry is capable of converting thesecond input signal back to the first frequency range; a characteristicderiving means provided far deriving at least one characteristic of theelectrical device from the frequency converted second input signal; anda third circuit electrically connected to the input of the analogconversion circuitry and a fourth circuit electrically connected to theoutput of the analog conversion circuitry, the third circuit is providedfor receiving a signal within the second frequency range and supplyingthe received signal to the input of the analog conversion circuitry, thefourth circuit is provided for processing the output signal of Theanalog conversion circuitry, the fourth circuit is further provided forsupplying the first input signal within the first frequency range to theinput of the analog conversion circuitry.
 12. The electrical device ofclaim 11, wherein the characteristic deriving means is formed by acharacterization block connected to the output of the analog conversioncircuitry, the characterisation block is provided for supplying signalcorrection data to the fourth circuit.
 13. The electrical device ofclaim 11, wherein the electrical device is a downconversion receiverdevice, the fourth circuit is formed by a baseband circuit and the thirdcircuit is formed by a radio frequent receiving circuit, the analogconversion circuitry comprising at least one downconversion step with alocal oscillator and a mixer.
 14. The electrical device of claim 11,wherein the third and fourth circuits and the analog conversioncircuitry comprise a first branch for dealing with signals having afirst phase and a second branch for dealing with signals having a secondphase different from the first phase.
 15. The electrical device of claim14, wherein the electrical device is provided for I/Q modulation, thefirst branch defining the I branch and the second branch defining the Qbranch.